The DAC Scam - Almost everyone believes the hype

+1000.

If ya can't hear any differences stop barking like Barky Bark in OP's video, delete the hifi forum accounts, stick the bose earphones in and walk the dog.

I've seen so many of these discussions.  End of day, if you can't hear a difference, you are in the wrong hobby, and you are wasting your $$.  

Some of us DO hear profound differences, sometimes sublime differences, and as we can afford to burn money on this hobby...we do.

@niodari

It’s a reality that some recordings will never sound very good, no matter how expensive the gear. In fact the more resolving the gear, the worse such recordings may sound. It seems a waste of time to me to focus gear upgrades on trying to garner improved sonics from such recordings but then, if much of one’s favorite music is poorly recorded/produced, I suppose it’s understandable. Thankfully, I don’t find myself in such a predicament.

Differences I’ve experienced in DACs:

1) Tonality -- some emphasize the upper mids and highs while others are more rolled off and emphasize the lower mids/upper bass. I happen to be very sensitive to highs/forwardness. I’ve played guitar for 50 + years and tonality has always been a top priority in choosing guitars. I don’t like muddy sounding guitars or bright sounding guitars. Same with audio. It’s not easy to build a guitar that is both warm and clear sounding. Many overemphasize upper mids and highs and truncate bass in an effort to improve clarity and so-called "balance". Much current audio gear, to my ears, sounds like it's voiced to sound "lively" or "energic" and to me this typically translates to fatiguing. 

2) "Organic" vs. "Clinical" or Natural vs. Analytic: Some DACs I’ve heard have sounded "dry" while others are more ’liquid". I lack the vocabulary to explain this further, except to say that I associate leaner mids and tipped up highs with the clinical sound. Some DACs have behaved more like lab equipment, akin to a microscope. They’ve emphasize resolution above all else, which sounds very unnatural to me. Not my cup of tea.

3) Bass and 4) Soundstaging

There are other categories I’m probably forgetting. The above are the most obvious to me and reflect my particular priorities. As always, YMMV. I’m more of a music lover than an audiophile so there are factors to which I pay little attention that might figure largely in your gear choices.

As @moonwatcher correctly states:

We all have different ears (hearing) and sonic priorities. Some may say natural tone or body of sounds and the attack and decay are most important, others will say soundstage and imaging. Some want it all, if they can get it at a price they are willing to pay. We choose our priorities.

 

that's why is great to have a secondary system, and some stuff I only really like in my car...

@stuartk  We all may perceive the sound differently. I just like tube sound and prefer my tube DAC over all other ones. I am just now comparing two class D amps. One has  a notably less distortion than the other, while the second one has much wider upper mids and highs, as you like. I still prefer the first amp, but it's really difficult to choose. Different DACs may sound differently, it is a matter of a taste who likes what. And not necessarily a more expensive one dominates a cheaper DAC in all aspects, in fact, I did not have a DAC that dominates in all aspects other DACs that I have/had (the $130 ifi DAC has very notably wider high mids and highs than much more expensive Chord, though the latter one gives less distortion (so you may lake the ifi more than the Chord). Take two women, both beautiful in a different way. Some people would choose one of them and some other another one. Overall, the differences between two decent DACs would not be so notable than the differences between different amps and speakers. One may spend the difference in the cost of two DACs for a better amp or a better speaker. Of course, one with an unlimited resources may spend his money on a most expensive DAC (which, still may not be dominant in all aspects).  

@niodari

I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said.

How two people perceive the actual differences between two DACs will definitely be impacted not only by their respective priorities in terms of sonic factors but also by their hearing. And of course, this is not even considering differences in ancillary gear and listening spaces!

As it happened, the particular group of DACs I auditioned in the past spanned a very wide spectrum, in terms of musical vs. analytical/warm vs. bright. If I’d chosen a different group of DACs, the differences might’ve been far less evident and I might well have determined that one DAC pretty much sounds like another.